Many, many months – and a gazillion lame excuses (e.g, he “forgot!”, “There are some bells you can’t unring”) – after he SHOULD have declared the gifts he got from his corrupt pal Jonnie Williams of Star Scientific, SHOULD have returned them or donated the money to charity, and SHOULD have apologized to the voters of Virginia, Ken Cuccinelli has FINALLY gotten around to doing one of those things (sort of), with time running out and down an average of 7 points in the polls to Terry McAuliffe. Pathetic.

Also, you’ve just gotta love how Cuccinelli starts off blabbering about “ObamaCare” and the “EPA.” Now, desperate to get back in this race, he’s trying to focus the voters of Virginia on his…far-right-wing agenda?!? As if that’s going to help him any? What a dolt.

P.S. And, of course, Cuccinelli goes right to the Virginia “reporter” who’s friendliest to him (and to Republicans in general), Ryan Nobles, for an EXCLUSIVE T.V. interview. Give me a break. If Cuccinelli were confident about this, he’d go to a journalist who’d ask tough questions – Bob Lewis, Julian Walker, let’s say – not to the guy who lobbed softballs to Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney in 2012. Ugh. (note: apparently, Cuccinelli talked to Bob Lewis of the AP first, so Nobles’ interview was only exclusive on TV)

P.P.S. See the DPVA and McAuliffe campaign statements on the “flip;” more statements in the comments section.

DPVA Statement on Cuccinelli’s Unethical Star Scientfic Gifts Scandal

Democratic Party of Virginia spokesman Brian Coy released the following statement responding to the latest developments in Ken Cuccinell’s ongoing scandal with Star Scientific and CEO Jonnie Williams:

“Today Ken Cuccinelli admitted that it was wrong for him to accept $18,000 in gifts and trips from a company and its CEO as he was supposed to be tracking them down for $1.7 million in taxes. This late, clearly political act can’t undo his unethical pattern of putting his own financial interests ahead of Virginia families.

“From not prosecuting a donor who was stealing from a veterans ‘charity’ to helping an out-of-state corporate donor in their fight against Virginia landowners, to his Star Scientific scandal, Cuccinelli has led the most scandal plagued Attorney General’s office in recent memory.”

“Ken Cuccinelli has led the most scandal-plagued Attorney General’s office in recent memory – his tenure defined by scandal and conflicts that embarrass Virginia like Star Scientific, Bobby Thompson and helping out-of-state energy companies in their battle against Virginia landowners,” said McAuliffe spokesperson Josh Schwerin. “Cuccinelli’s pattern of ethical behavior is always the same: get caught in scandals, do nothing for months, and then buckle to pressure for his own political reasons. Cuccinelli’s actions today are a reminder that he failed to seriously pursue Star Scientific for the $1.7 million they owed in back taxes at the same time that he was taking lavish gifts, luxury vacations and extravagant meals from the company’s CEO.”

Crossover Healthcare Ministry provides health care to working poor who don’t qualify for Medicaid because Cuccinelli and allies block expansion

Today, Ken Cuccinelli finally caved to public pressure and annouced he would donate the value of $18,000 in unethical gifts he took from Star Scientific and CEO Jonnie Williams to charity. Cuccinelli will donate the money to Crossover Healthcare Ministry, a Richmond-area free clinic. Crossover Ministry emphasizes on their website their clientele are primarily the working poor who are too poor to quality for Medicaid. Cuccinelli has repeatedly and vocally opposed extending Medicaid coverage under Obamacare to provide affordable and quality health care coverage to low income Virginians.

“Ken Cuccinelli is using the great work of Crossover Healthcare Ministry to whitewash the numerous ethical lapses he has long refused to fix,” said ProgressVA Executive Director Anna Scholl. “If Cuccinelli was serious about helping the working poor in Virginia access health care coverage, he would support expanding Medicaid to provide low cost health care to up to 400,000 Virginians. The mere fact that Cuccinelli received more in gifts from Jonnie Williams than some clinic clients make in a year is a stark illustration of how far out of touch Cuccinelli is with the needs of Virginia families.”

“Ken Cuccinelli’s announcement today that he will donate $18,000 to a Richmond-based charity to offset the gifts he accepted from Star Scientific is curious. As recently as two weeks ago, he rejected the notion that he needed to return any gifts because he had done nothing wrong. That begs the question — if he feels he did nothing wrong, why donate the money to charity? The only logical explanation is that he is struggling to find a way to fix his continued slide in the polls and growing credibility gap with voters. Voters have every reason to question his trustworthiness, and this politically calculated move won’t change that. Relenting under pressure while taking no responsibility is not the same thing as leadership.”

“It took him a while, but Ken Cuccinelli finally seems to have realized that keeping dirty money while serving as Attorney General doesn’t look very good.

If he’s willing to give back $18,000 in ill-gotten luxury gifts, then what about the over $100,000 he got after his office helped an out-of-state oil and gas company in its fight with Virginians? It’s far dirtier money, and it’s far more important that he return it.

And, newly released research shows that the timing of the money our Attorney General got from this out-of-state company – and the favors his office gave it – is telling and ugly. If he doesn’t return this dirty money, reasonable people will assume the company paid Ken Cuccinelli to help it rip off Virginians.”

Today Ken Cuccinelli made a desperate play to distract Virginians from his extreme record and ongoing ethics scandals, but, despite his rhetoric, he has yet to actually answer for the damaging ethics scandal he embroiled himself in with Star Scientific and Jonnie Williams.

Cuccinelli: “I Did This to Resolve Any Questions Surrounding the Matter Concerning Star Scientific.”

In his September 10th web video, Cuccinelli stated, “In that spirit, I wanted you to know that in recent days, I’ve managed to arrange to send a check of over $18,000 to a Richmond based charity. I did this to resolve any questions surrounding the matter concerning Star Scientific. I made the decision to send the check because it is the right thing to do, plain and simple.” [Cuccinelli Campaign Web Video, 9/10/13]

…But Numerous Questions Remain

1. How did Cuccinelli “forget” to disclose the $1,500 Thanksgiving dinner he ASKED Jonnie Williams for?

2. In October 2012, Cuccinelli amended his Statements of Economic Interest forms for the first time to reveal stock in Star Scientific. How did he forget to also disclose the $5,000 in gifts he received from the company CEO including a $3,000 vacation he ASKED for that summer?

3. Why did Cuccinelli wait until after the November 2012 election to order a review of McDonnell’s financial disclosures when he was first briefed in September?

4. Why did he wait to initiate the same review of his own disclosures until April 2013, after considerable public pressure had been brought to bear, when he ordered the review of McDonnell’s disclosures concerning the same controversial CEO Jonnie Williams in November 2012?

5. Cuccinelli claims his staff first briefed him on the Star Scientific-Former Executive Mansion Chef embezzlement case and “other Star-related issues” in September 2012. Why then, does he claim he did not know about the $1.7 million in back taxes Star Scientific owed to the state and the ongoing lawsuit.

6. Why did Cuccinelli hold on to his shares of Star Scientific stock after being briefed on the Star Scientific-Former Executive Mansion Chef embezzlement case for months before he was forced to recuse himself because of his “conflict of interest.”

If Ken Cuccinelli really wants to “resolve any questions surrounding the matter concerning Star Scientific, he will start with the questions above and truly account for his unethical behavior. Virginians deserve answers.

DJRippert

Any chance the “Richmond based charity” is the Bob McDonnell Legal Defense Fund?